Rod Janzen, Ed.D.

What programs do you teach in?

I teach American religious and ethnic history; also Mennonite history.

Education

Ed.D., Social Sciences, University of Southern California, 1992

M.A., History, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1977

Studies in History and Literature, Oxford University, 1973-1974

B.A., History, Fresno Pacific College, 1975

Share why you teach at FPU

I teach history from a Christian perspective that references the most recent research in the field. I hope that students will gain an understanding of the various ways that history may be viewed based on different ideological stances. My teaching is student-centered and discussion-oriented.

Scholarly Interests

I am especially interested in old order Christianity, for example, Hutterites, Molokans and other religious groups, as well as utopian and communal societies; also American ethnic relations.

Consultant for "Teaching American History," a federally-funded project with partnering support from the Clovis Unified School District, Fresno Pacific University, the Library of Congress, Microsoft, and others, 2002-2005

Consultant for the Burton Buller/John Ruth film, "The Hutterites: To Care and Not to Care," 1983

Honors and Awards

Communal Studies Association Distinguished Scholar Award for publications on communal life and thought

Communal Studies Association Annual Publications Award for The Hutterites in North America, September 2011

Member, "Teaching American History" Executive Committee in coordination with the Clovis Unified School District, 2003-2006

Mentor, Bethel College, St. Paul, Minnesota, 2005

Publications and Presentations

"William Saroyan on Ethnicity," Journal of American Ethnic History, to be published Spring 2014

"Plain Christians in California's San Joaquin Valley," Pacific Historical Review, to be published December 2013

"The Hutterites: Physical and Spiritual Health Care," book chapter in The Spiritual Care Edition of the Physicians Desk Reference, edited by Steven Jeffers, to be published by Radcliffe Publishers, 2013

"Bruderhof," "Communal Life," "Hutterites" and "Prairieleut" entries in The Concise Encyclodpedia of the Amish, edited by Donald Kraybill, 2010

"The Mennonite Brethren," "Mennonites in Ukraine" and "The Prairieleut," entries in Concise Bibliography of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonite, edited by Donald Kraybill, 2010

The Hutterites in North America, with Max Stanton, published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010

"Hutterite Physical and Spiritual Health Care," book chapter in The Spiritual Care Edition of the Physicians Desk Reference, edited by Steven Jeffers, published by Radcliffe Publishers, 2010

Paul Tschetter: The Story of a Hutterite Immigrant Leader, Pioneer, and Pastor, published by Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2009

"Communal Expressions of Old Order River Brethren Life," with Stephen Scott and Hannah Scott, in Communal Societies, December 2006

"Mere Culture and a Real Christianity," in College Faith 3: 150 Christian Leaders and Educators Share Faith Stories From Their Student Days, edited by Ronald Knott, published by Andrews University Press, 2006

"Five Paradigms on Ethnic Relations," book chapter in Intercultural Communication: A Reader, edited by Richard Porter and Larry Samovar, published by Wadsworth, 2005

"Synanon: A California Utopia," in Communique, Fall 2005

"Mennonite Community Church, the Early Years," in California Mennonite Historical Society Newsletter, September 2005

"The Hutterites" and "the Bruderhof," entries in Annotated Bibliography for the Study of American Communal History (International Communal Studies Association on-line publication), edited by Peter Hoehnle, 2005

"The Hutterites and the Bruderhof: The Relationship between an Old Order Anabaptist group and a 20th Century Religious Society," in Mennonite Quarterly Review, October 2005

Kalona's Old Order Amish & The Amana Colonies: Two Unique Cultures in Southeast Iowa (on-line publication of the Kalona Historical Society, www.kalonaiowa.org/ka), 2004 (This is a revised website version of a 1988 publication noted below.)

Are We Amish? (on-line publication of the Iowa City Convention and Visitor's Bureau, www.iowacity.com/amanas/amish/low_amish.html), 2004 (This is yet another, and different, revised website version of a 1988 publication noted below.)

Back to the City: Mennonite Community Church: 1954-2004, published by Pine Hill Press, 2004

"Scholarship and the Church," in Christian Leader, November 2003

The Rise and Fall of Synanon: A California Utopia, published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001

The Prairie People: Forgotten Anabaptists, published by University Press of New England, 1999

Three Approaches to Curriculum Design, published by Fresno Pacific University, 1999

"The Social Science Education Conceptual Dilemma," in The Social Studies, June 1995

"Melting Pot or Mosaic?" reprint in California Schools, May 1995

"Five Perspectives on Ethnic Relations," in Social Education, October 1994

"The Prairieleut: A Forgotten Hutterite People," in Communal Societies, 1994

"The Hutterite High School Experience: Cultural Transmission on the Northern Plains," in Syzygy, Summer 1994

Review of "Inside the Ark: The Hutterites in Canada and the United States," by Yossi Katz and John Lehr, Great Plains Research Journal, Summer 2013

Review of "The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America," by Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey, The History Teacher, Spring 2013

Review of "Plain People: A Case Study of the Rockport Colony Hutterites," by Joanita Kant, Great Plains Research Journal, 2011

Review of "Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair," by Anthony Arthur, "A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan," by Michael Kazin, and "Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America," by Matthew Avery Sutton, in Pacific Journal, 2010

Review of Eden within Eden: Oregon's Utopian Heritage, by James Kopp, in Nova Religio, Spring 2010

Review of Diaspora in the Countryside, by Royden Loewen, in The American Historical Review, Fall 2009

Review of Jewish Communities on the Ohio River: A History, by Amy Hill Shevitz, in The History Teacher, August 2008

The Rise and Fall of Synanon: A California Utopia reviewed in The Nation, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Los Angeles Times, Direction, Journal of Utopian Societies, Communal Societies, The Journal of American History and others

Presentations (1992-present, a sampling):

"The Hutterites in 2013," Agricultural History Association, Banff, Alberta, June 2013

“Communal Christianity,” “The Hutterites in North America” and "The Hutterites Face the Future," Durnbaugh Lecture Series, Young Center for the Study of Anabaptism and Pietism, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, April, 2012

"The Hutterites and the Bruderhof: The Difficult Relationship between two Christian Communal Groups," presented at Dakota History Conference, April 2006

"The Hutterites and the Bruderhof: Different Perspectives," presented with Ruth Lambach and Max Stanton at Communal Studies Association in Pittsburgh, PA, 2005

"The Hutterites and the Bruderhof: The Relationship between an Old Order Anabaptist Group and a Modern Religious Society," presented at Fresno Pacific University Senior Scholar's lecture series, September 2005

"Old Order Christianity in California," presented at American Historical Association, Pacific Coast Branch in Corvallis, Oregon, August 2005

"The Hutterite High School Experience: Boundary Maintenance on the Northern Plains," presented at International Communal Studies Association triennial meeting in New Harmony, Indiana, October 1993

"Multicultural Confusion," presented at California Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, in San Luis Obispo, March 1993

"Multiculturalism: Assimilationist or Pluralist?" presented at Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in Washington, D.C., March 1993

"The Prairieleut: A Forgotten Hutterite People," presented at Communal Studies Association in Nauvoo, Illinois, October 1992

"Religion and Politics in South Dakota," presented as plenary session lecture, Dakota History Conference in Madison, SD, 1985

Scholarly work:

Consultant for the book, Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites, edited by Don Kraybill and David Rempel Schmucker, proposed publication in 2010 by the Johns Hopkins University Press

Consultant for "Teaching American History," a federally-funded project with partnering support from the Clovis Unified School District, Fresno Pacific University, the Library of Congress, Microsoft, and others, 2002-2005

Consultant for the Burton Buller/John Ruth film, "The Hutterites: To Care and Not to Care," 1983